Sefah Israel Abebrese, Sarkodie Seth Adade, Pichierri Giuseppe, Schellack Natalie, Godman Brian
Pharmacy Practice Department, School of Pharmacy, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho PMB 31, Ghana.
School of Pharmacy, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho PMB 31, Ghana.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2023 Feb 1;12(2):283. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics12020283.
There is an increasing focus across countries on researching the management of children admitted to hospital with COVID-19. This stems from an increasing prevalence due to new variants, combined with concerns with the overuse of antimicrobials driving up resistance rates. Standard treatment guidelines (STGs) have been produced in Ghana to improve their care. Consequently, there is a need to document the clinical characteristics of children diagnosed and admitted with COVID-19 to our hospital in Ghana, factors influencing compliance to the STG and treatment outcomes. In all, 201 patients were surveyed between March 2020 and December 2021, with males accounting for 51.7% of surveyed children. Those aged between 6 and 10 years were the largest group (44.8%). Nasal congestion and fever were some of the commonest presenting complaints, while pneumonia was the commonest (80.6%) COVID-19 complication. In all, 80.0% of all admissions were discharged with no untreated complications, with a 10.9% mortality rate. A combination of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine (41.29%) was the most prescribed antimicrobial regimen. Compliance to the STG was variable (68.2% compliance). Increased compliance was associated with a sore throat as a presenting symptom. Mortality increased following transfer to the ICU. However, current recommendations to prescribe antimicrobials without demonstrable bacterial or fungal infections needs changing to reduce future resistance. These are areas to address in the future.
各国对研究新冠病毒疾病（COVID-19）住院儿童的管理日益关注。这源于新变种导致的发病率上升，以及对抗菌药物过度使用导致耐药率上升的担忧。加纳已制定标准治疗指南（STG）以改善对这些儿童的护理。因此，有必要记录在加纳我们医院被诊断并收治的COVID-19儿童的临床特征、影响对STG依从性的因素以及治疗结果。在2020年3月至2021年12月期间，共对201名患者进行了调查，其中男性占被调查儿童的51.7%。6至10岁的儿童是最大的群体（44.8%）。鼻塞和发热是最常见的就诊主诉，而肺炎是最常见的（80.6%）COVID-19并发症。所有入院患者中，80.0%出院时没有未治疗的并发症，死亡率为10.9%。阿奇霉素和羟氯喹联合用药（41.29%）是最常用的抗菌治疗方案。对STG的依从性各不相同（依从率为68.2%）。依从性增加与以咽痛作为就诊症状有关。转至重症监护病房（ICU）后死亡率上升。然而，目前在没有可证实的细菌或真菌感染情况下开具抗菌药物的建议需要改变，以减少未来的耐药性。这些是未来需要解决的领域。
